Chilean man charged with battery of police officer in Spain is sentenced to four and a half years in prison

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SANTIAGO.- Rodrigo Lanza, the Chilean man accused of beating a Spanish police officer into a coma, has been found guilty and sentenced to four years and six months in prison. In addition to his prison sentence, Lanza must also pay 1,108,566 euros (more than 800 million pesos) in damages to the officer and his family.

The sentence was issued by the Eighth High Court of Barcelona, citing counts of assault and battery of a law-enforcement official.

The court found the Chilean man guilty of having thrown a rock that hit the Barcelona police officer, sending him into a vegetative state, which he has not yet come out of. The incident occurred in front of a rental house where a party was being held in February of 2006.

Two other individuals accused in the crime, Chilean national Álex Cisternas and Argentine national Juan Daniel Pinto, were sentenced to three years and three months in prison.

Lanza, as well as Cisternas have already been in custody for two years in the Cárcel Modelo prison in Barcelona. Cisternas had been released on probation on January 15th of this year.